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November a Turnaround Month for Independents, CNW Reports

BANDON, Ore. — November was a turnaround month for independent dealerships, which realized a slight uptick in used-vehicle sales from a year ago, CNW Research reported last week. The firm also noted an increase in transaction prices from a year ago.

Versus a year ago, actual transaction prices for independent operations rose 2.8% in November, while sales inched up 0.3% from the same period one year ago.

“Independent dealers have been taking it on the chin for the past few months, seeing volumes decline versus 2013 on a regular basis — often double-digit declines,” CNW’s Art Spinella wrote in the firm’s monthly newsletter. “November, however, was a turnaround month for indies …”

Private sales, or what the firm refers to as “casual sales,” were down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis, cutting the segment’s full-year sales increase to less than 3%. The story was different for new-car dealers in November, Spinella noted.

“[Used-car operations at new-car dealerships] were on the positive side of sales and should see a near 2% increase for the full month to 1.226 million units,” Spinella wrote. “Prices also were up slightly versus a year ago by 1.2%.”

For the entire industry, floor traffic continued to slide in the first two 10-day periods of November. “… But it continued to hover in the 100 range,” Spinella noted. “The opening days of the third 10-day period, however, showed an improvement.”

Spinella also reported that days’ supply slipped by about 5.6%, which he attributed to dealers tightening up their inventories.

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Consumers may have their doubts about the economy, but they’re feeling pretty good about their personal economic situations. It’s one of the reasons CNW’s True Delivery Rate reached 16.8 million units in November.